DRColby

Be ready to: 1. Feed the birds. 2. Feed the rats. 3. Use fungicides and pesticides you never thought you would consider and aren't real big with most people. That's if you want fruit. If you want to have fat birds then plant raspberries, blueberries, and strawberries. The rats like apples, Italian prunes (plums) and figs. I have experience with all of the above. If you want earwigs plant some artichokes. And Meyer lemons, around these parts they bear fruit in January or February; they're what we call cocktail size. If I lived in GA I guess my first stab at fruit would be peaches. Good luck, Dave

Yesterday's activities resulted in three IBUs last evening. Transplanted about 80 tomatoes into some coconut mat pots I am trying this year. Plants are little bedraggled from just sitting with two leaves and long roots from all the cold. Sewed more arugula and other greens, transplanted a Meyer lemon that was pot bound into a bigger non-clay pot from Costco. (Think that this is what drove me to IBU bottle.) Also moved some thyme seedings into herb beds. Have never had much luck starting thyme and will be interested in seeing how these survive. Dill is coming up in beds as is fennel and flat parsley. Put in scarlet runner bean seeds; hope the Stellar jays leave them, unlike the peas, alone. We're eating some spinach, sorrel, lovage, tarragon and sweet sicily from the garden. Dave

Don't know what your family is into in terms of eating (other than fresh from the garden), but the old-line Gold Room at Baranof Hotel often features game on the menu and is someyimes quite good. Dave

There is a huge Mexican Grocery store, (taking over a former QFC location) at the corner of Pacific Highway and Kent- des Moines Rd, that is close to opening. It is rumored to be the biggest Mexican grocery north of CA. Another part of the talk is that the whole strip mall is going to be turned into a Mexican town square theme. The location is about 1/2 mile off I-5; there are also some pretty good, authentic Mexican eating places in the area. Dave

This probably the tip of the iceberg on this subject. I think we are going to find that the levels of Mercury in salmonidae are going to be equally dangerous; especially in sockeye and those raised commercially. I was reading a paper (and I have lost the reference) from a recent conference of scientists at UW Madison recently on Mercury contamination using "best science available." A major point they made was that the levels are higher in costal tidal areas, estuaries and rivers. I am sure there will be much more on this in the coming months. Dave

We did a 60-day cruise a couple of years ago. I would have to say that I probably ate better (and healthier) during four years in the navy. For most, cruise means "treat" and treat means all the lobster you can gouge yourself on. Believe me, even lobster gets old after while. They even used to feed it to prisoners. Also, consider the median targeted age for the cruise market is probably 65 and you on track for an otherize bland diet. On our most recent cruise and table-mates were Israelis. One night we elected to try the ship's "fine dining" at an extra $25 per person. That translated into steak, - American style- with lots of potatoes and sauces. My friend ,who was a Kosher wine producer in Israel, and I knew we were in trouble when a fine French wine came to the table and the label was in Chinese. Not to worry about sulphides. The wine steward, who was a very accommodative practicing Muslim, couldn't tell us much about the bottle's history. Neither could we. Our suspicion was was our wine was probably like Heinekens: "The largest Heinekens brewery in the world is said to be in China. Heinekens just doesn't know about it." I would suggest, if you are real interested in fine dining, on a cruise you check before you book as to where your ship replenishes while at sea. You may just find yourself 15 days at sea and eating thawed Seattle salmon rather than fresh barramundi or parrotfish from nearby waters. Dave PS - on the subject of wine we took a case with us and replenished in ports where French was spoken. The ship's list was marked up about 4 times and quite average. the cheapest bottle was probably $32 for an on-sale bottle of $6 wine/

Jlo mein, You're right, the menu changes nightly and what appears on the plate is much more interesting than the description. Also, they are pros at getting people to the symphony, just mention it to your waiter. Dave

How about the not-to-be missed Union? It has just changed it's modus operandi, back to older ways and for the better I think, if Friday night was any indication. Dave

It might be interesting to pass along that Trader Joes is trying to limit its trade in products coming from China. Cathy and I glean for our local food bank and a week or so ago we picked up a case of Chinese pine nuts and another one of dried fruit and one of the employees told us about the effort. We hope there is success. Dave

The Pacific Northwest woods is alive with mushrooms (and breathtaking). I picked maybe 20 matsutaki buttons today, a bag of hedgehogs and got tired of picking chantrelles. The frost and freeze is coming but right now it is as good as it has been in fouryears. Dave

Greg Atkinson has a method we like: Shuck the corn, bathe it with olive oil, butter or a mixture, add chopped garlic and fresh herbs to mixture, wrap with aluminum foil and grill; turn a coule of times and test for doneness after about 20 minutes. Dave

My fava beans were done almost a month ago. This is probably the 6th year I have grown them and never had a problem up unitl this year when something decided to eat them (rat, possum or squirrels, maybe). Anyhow they do best if planted in the fall; they winter over here and are a very early Spring crop. They don't need much since they are a nitrogen dendrification plant. We start picking them early (before the peas) and eat them from small all the way up to lima bean sized. Aphids love them because they are so soft but they are very easy to grow. Some varieties of favas are used by farmers as a cover crop. Dave

I have been out in the Cle Elum area the last two Fridays and despite the weatherman saying it's been raining on the east side of the Cascades, not much has changed. Yesterday there was rain on the west side of the Pass, a fresh dusting of snow on the pass and sun on the east. In my "secret" patches there were the stubs from Verpas I picked the week before. Trillums are turing purple, needles are to the bothersome height the vine maples are starting to leaf out, but not much has changed with the morels. We need thunder, lighting and an ozone change, rain and some warm nights before we're going to see any morels. Keep hunting and keep spending $50 for gas to go from West to East. Morels were $40 a pound in the Pike Street Market and looked pretty good when compared to gas and wear and tear on my body. Dave

Most wild mushrooms have an affinity or nuteral meats such as chicken and pork with lots of cream and butter. When I find what I call "wildcat" morels - burn morels the size of your fist - I like to remove the stems, take them chop them with some shallots, saute in buttler, them mix with some Panko crums, stuff them back into the two halfs and run them under the broiler for 3 minutes or so. Almost any wild mushrom is great in a souce made with small amount of a salty ham, such as good Black Forest, shallots and chopped morels, sauted in butter, reduced with a little white wine and then topped with heacvy cream. That goes well in pastry shells or over a pasta. If we can come up with some "native" morels - the thumb sized ones that come back year-after-year - we will probably saute them in buttter and serve them over asparagus as a side dish at Mothers' Day brunch. Just remember: mushrooms (with perhaps the exeception of matustakies) love butter and cream; how bad in our diet ridden days. Dave

Your Prince patch must be the same as mine. I priced some of the prettest little Princes under a Sequoia that dogs (including mine) were lifting their legs on. 'shrooms had that nice almond smell and I dropped them in a frying pan with hot walnut oil for a quick cook, but when I sampled once they didn't have that nice fresh Prince taste so I pitched the skillet full. Might add that this is the earliest I have seen Prince in the PNW. The oysters I have clipped are very buggy and wormy, as are most Spring mushrooms eon the west side of the Cascades.... and o'yes, them slugs love our Puget Sound morels. Dave